Artist and activist Ai Weiwei is particularly busy at the moment. He’s about to launch “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” an art installation in New York, and if that’s not enough, his latest documentary “Human Flow” is gearing up to open this week. The film, which chronicles the global refugee crisis, couldn’t be more timely, and it was important for Ai that his picture was informative as well as intimate.
“I want people to be emotionally involved,” he told The LA Times. “The hope is for individuals to realize these refugees relate to our normal life and we have a responsibility to act.”
Most intriguingly, Ai didn’t hesitate to get involved with the subjects of his movie and often works his way into scenes, but he had a very particular reason for this approach.
“To get yourself involved, to [make] the situation a little bit lighter, make some jokes, do some funny things like cut hair or barbecue … it brings a human touch,” he said. “It’s everyday life. It’s humanizing them. And humanizing myself. I don’t want just to be there as a filmmaker. I want also to tell them that I know them so well. I know exactly what kind of conditions they are in.” Here’s the official synopsis:
Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact.
Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. Human Flow is a witness to its subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming refugee camps to perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance and adaptation; from the haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown potential of the future. Human Flow comes at a crucial time when tolerance, compassion and trust are needed more than ever. This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this century: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity?
“Human Flow” opens on October 13th. Check out our exclusive clip below.